019  Court Trial

Farmers around Anderson's house came one after another, and Benjamin took the people to the cemetery in the west. It was expected that in another week, after the transformation of the werewolf, the four cemeteries in the south, east, north and west will be cleared. By then, the Anderson House will be buried by extensive grave removal work.

Ryan glanced at the clock across the desk, it was past nine, but Wells still hadn't come. This civil servant had always been punctual, regardless of his actual work efficiency, at least on the surface, he is 'serious'.

Ryan walked to the workbench. Wells left his work notes yesterday. Originally, Ryan only thought it was the other party's laziness, but now... He casually flipped through Wells' notes. The investigation of the funeral records had been completed. Near the end, the investigation records of the last day were obviously less than the previous days. Could we consider that this civil servant's mind was occupied by other things?

After ten o'clock, the sound of the car came from outside the Anderson house, and Ryan opened the curtains behind the desk. It wasn't Wells' car. A middle-aged man also wearing an old formal suit and carrying a frayed business bag got out of the car and walked towards the Anderson House.

Just as indifferent and impatient as Wells who just arrived, the middle-aged man introduced himself mechanically, "I'm here to take over from Wells. Are those Wells' work notes?"

The middle-aged man frowned, looking at the notes spread out on the desk at the side of the office. It seemed that he was very dissatisfied with the attitude of the previous civil servant. He didn't even look at Ryan after the introduction and walked straight to the workbench.

"Where's Wells?" Ryan asked.

"I don't know." The middle-aged man didn't even bother to look back, and impatiently fiddled with the information on the workbench.

Ryan stepped forward, squeezed the middle-aged man's chin with one hand, and with a little force, turned the other's impatient face toward himself: "Where is Wells?"

The red color forcefully squeezed out everything in the opponent's field of vision. In the middle-aged man's dilated pupils, two red lights penetrated directly into his brain, planting his will to answer questions.

"I don't know, he resigned!" The middle-aged man had an angry expression on his face, but it was not rudeness to the vampire's actions, but a complaint to Wells! "No progress report, no warning, quit half the job and quit! Who the hell would do that!"

Ryan's hand on the other's chin had been released: "When?"

"This morning! Left a word and quit! That's it! fuck!"

Ryan could feel the other party's anger, and the red in his eyes faded back to light green. With a smile, Ryan placed the information on the workbench and pointed to only a small part of the funeral records: "He has investigated this. If you act fast, you can finish it in one day today." Ryan patted The young man's shoulders, "Wells has already completed the most troublesome part, you only need to end it, and you can get all the credit, which is quite cost-effective."

The middle-aged man was stunned for a while, looking at the consolation on Anderson's master's delicate face, and after thinking about it, it seemed quite reasonable...

The bait was finally bitten.

The warehouse at the bus station was discovered, the list of dead apostles was leaked, and the Gusts' reaping-style "persuasion" obviously touched something, and a dead apostle candidate like Wells was finally selected by Papa Midnite.

******

"Put your hand on the Holy Codex and swear that everything you say is true."

Behind the brown wooden witness stand, Detective Curson looked solemn, put his hand on the black book"Holy Scripture", and raised one hand on his chest: "I swear by the "Holy Scripture" and my police badge, Everything that will be said is the truth!"

A crisp gavel sounded from the hands of the judge in the middle, "Lawyer, you can ask questions."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." The prosecutor saluted the judge in the middle and walked to the witness stand, "Detective Curson, are you investigating the disappearance of homeless people with your partner, Detective Lance, on X Street, on the xth day of the month....."

The lawyer pointed to James in the gallery.

James' face was not very good, because at this moment, Revenge in the dock also turned around at the same time, and his half-smiling eyes seemed to express an emotion called disappointment. This didn't end. The Gust couple, who were also in the auditorium, also turned their heads and looked at him, their eyes as empty as death.

Connor's case, because of the solid evidence and direct judgment, had no disputes. But for the homeless case, the police had no direct evidence, so to go through the trial process, the prosecutor must involve the police officers to testify.

What bothered James the most was that Mr. Herman smiled at him, a smile? kindness.

"Yes. Lance and I were interviewed..."

Curson was interrupted, and the lawyer looked at the judge: "Your Majesty, I request the presentation of Exhibit, the action report of Detective Curson."

"allow."

Exhibits were presented, and Curson was instructed to read out the marked portion.

"I was holding a gun and ordering the other party to raise his hands and face us, and then I felt a stun gun being shot in the back, and after a while, I lost consciousness. At that time, I knew that the criminals were a group."

After Curson finished reading, the report was passed to the judge, who looked over it and nodded, "But you didn't see anyone's face."

"I don't," Curson answered honestly.

"We request the presence of the witness, Detective Lance," the lawyer continued.

The judge glanced at the people sitting in the dock, "Do you have any questions?"

The man in a neat formal suit beside Revenge shook his head: "No, Your Honor." Then he turned his head, looked at Mr. Herman, and nodded slightly.

The judge's gavel rang again, glanced at Herman who was smiling, nodded unnoticed, and summoned Detective Lance.

James's consciousness was drifting away. He was still wearing yesterday's clothes, and his hands unconsciously smoothed out the wrinkles. He didn't know how he got on the witness stand. The voice in his ears seemed to fade away, he repeated his vow mechanically and met his partner Curson's encouraging look. This reliable middle-aged partner probably thought he was nervous now. James looked at Hermans, the Gusts, Revenge, the jury. Finally, his eyes returned to the lawyer in front of him, and he began to answer the lawyer's questions.

"I saw his face, the person in the dock, Revenge Gust..." James pointed to the hunter in the dock with an inexplicable smile on his mouth.

"It all happened so fast, he wasn't sure I saw his face, but I can confirm that when he attacked me in my home..." James took his lie to Curson to court.t.

"I covered up the fact that he had attacked me because I had to dispel his suspicions. I knew they were a group, and I couldn't make a fool of myself. I needed time to get solid evidence, and I started to investigate him..."

A lie has a characteristic, like a seed, give it water and sunlight, and it will sprout, grow, and grow.

"I discovered their modus operandi, they used the heating tunnel in the building to put people in the block to sleep to cover up the crime process..." Evidence was handed over, it was the herbal incense that James found in the building of the neighborhood that night.

"I found their stronghold and found a lot of illegally modified weapons, grenades, hand crossbows, drugs, stun guns..." The photo was sent, and the hunter stronghold given by Ryan was also used by James.

When all these things, which can only be circumstantial evidence, were presented to the judge, the lawyer asked, "These things, these investigations, are all done by you alone, and you didn't tell your partner, Detective Curson? Why?"

"Because I knew they were dangerous, they found my home and attacked me. I couldn't let my partner take the risk." James' face was numb: "When I told my partner all this, It's too late."

"Why is it so late, Detective Lance?"

"Connor Herman has been killed."

Amid the sighing in the jury and the gallery, the lawyer saluted the judge.

"It's all right, Your Honor."